A Man’s Worth(Brac Pack 31)(13)

“Watch who you are speaking to in that tone or I’ll cut your tongue out.” He pulled the statistic files from his desk and then headed toward the door to go pack his bags. “I am still the leader until I leave these lands, Nara.”

His cousin didn’t look pleased.

“Who is she?” Darla asked. Ahm knew the woman had planned on mating with him. He also knew her father was as greedy as they came. The two, as well as Nara, would stop at nothing to acquire both lands. There were only two bloodlines left from all the inbreeding, and the last two were so closely related that they shouldn't even be considered separate. But they were, each with their own lands, and Ahm knew Darla wanted to mate him only for his.

But that wasn’t his problem any longer.

Although he would have to warn Rakeym about these two plotting bitches. The only person who had ever brought Ahm happiness was his sister. But she had been murdered and taken away from him. Nara was a poor substitution. “That would be he, Darla, and he is a shifter.”

The two gasped, their twin expressions holding disdain.

To hell with this. He had a mate to claim.

Ahm spun when he felt something slide over his wrist. Glancing down, he saw one of the bracelets his people had invented to stop a fey from shimmering. “What the hell is this?” he asked, holding up his hand. “Do you think you two can overtake me?”

Setting the files on top of a shelf, Ahm advanced on the two.

“No, dear cousin,” Nara said with a sardonic grin. “But they can.”

Ahm spun to see four Shadow elves advancing toward him. “You should have sent more than four,” he said as he readied for battle. “But as soon as I take them down, you are going to die for betraying your leader.”

“That will never come to pass,” Nara sneered at him. “You just said you were handing the tribe over to Rakeym. You are no longer our leader. What Shadow elf would convict me when they find out that you have not only mated outside your race, but with a male?” A cold, hard glint appeared in Nara’s eyes. “As a matter of fact, I think you should be tried for betraying your race.”

Ahm swung around, connecting his foot with one of the Shadow elf’s knees. He heard a loud crack and knew he had done some damage. The elf went down, howling in pain, but the other three kept advancing.

The bracelet put Ahm at a disadvantage, but he wasn’t going down. If he did, he knew Nara and Darla would kill him so Nara could take over the tribe. His cousin would probably marry Darla’s father so the two lands could join.

Ahm wasn’t going to let that happen.

One of the guards shimmered in behind Ahm, but he was all too familiar with that move. Ahm ducked down as the guard tried to grab him and swept his leg out, unbalancing the man.

“Get him!” Nara shouted. “He has betrayed our race by mating a male shifter.”

Ahm saw one of the guards hesitate. That was all he needed. Grabbing a heavy figurine from the shelf by the door, Ahm crashed it against the man’s skull. No one was going to kill him.

“What the hell?” Rakeym shouted when he entered the office. One of the guards grabbed Ahm around his waist, running forward and forcing them both to crash into his desk.

“Enough!” Rakeym shouted. “That is your leader you are fighting. You will be tried and hanged for this.”

“He mated a male shifter,” Nara said, apparently wanting everyone to know. “He is the one who should be tried and hanged.”

Ahm knew Rakeym couldn’t help him lest he be labeled a traitor himself. He was in a fucked-up situation. Using brute force, Ahm shoved the Shadow elf off of him and dove through the office window, landing hard on the moss-covered ground. He rolled to his feet and took off running through the marshlands.

But Ahm knew he was stuck. There was no way in or out of his land without shimmering, and he currently sported a bracelet. The only thing he could do was hide and try to get help.

Reaching inside his boot, Ahm pulled his cell phone out and called the one man he knew would send him help.

“Christian.”

“I am being hunted down.”

“By whom?” Christian asked.

“My people have found out that I have a male shifter as a mate. They are out for blood.”

“I’ll have help sent to you right away. Stay hidden, Ahm.”

“Christian?” Ahm licked his dry lips, unsure if he should continue.

“Yes?”

He paused, took in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. “If I don’t make it out of this, can you tell Bryce that I wasn’t refusing him? I was only coming back here to settle my affairs before going to him.”

“You’ll make it out.” Stone-cold exactness. Christian’s words were confident.